The Rabbit Hole
by ilovetvalot
Summary: How does Hotch feel after one night in Emily's arms? Please read & review. Written in response to Kavi Leighanna & Sienna27's Television Prompt Challenge #2 - Gilmore Girls - "Emily in Wonderland"


**_Author's Note: Thanks to Kavi Leighanna and Sienna27 for the TV Prompt Challenge...who knew they'd get me into writing Hotch/Prentiss! As ever, I don't own Criminal Minds._**

**The Rabbit Hole**

**Prompt: Gilmore Girls: "Emily in Wonderland"**

Emily Prentiss felt like she'd taken a tumble down the rabbit hole. And Aaron Hotchner had shoved her down it, going along for the ride. And somehow, he'd landed directly on top of her.

Blowing a strand of her long dark hair out of her face, she struggled to catch her breath as she shifted underneath the man collapsed over her.

"You okay?" she heard him whisper to her.

"Uhmm. Yeah," she replied, desperately fighting to pull air into her lungs. "That was…unexpected," she finished lamely after a futile search for an apt description of what had just happened. She, Emily "Queen of Logic" Prentiss, had just succumbed to long pent up emotion, and slept with Aaron Hotchner. Otherwise known as her BOSS!

She'd never expected this when she'd decided while sitting at her desk in the BAU bullpen that it was time for someone to check on their erstwhile leader. It had been a week since they'd caught Foyet and everyone through unspoken agreement had decided that Hotch needed time to recover from the struggle of bringing this criminal to justice…some time to re-bond with his son….some time to attempt to make amends with his wife. But, after a week of silence on his end, with not even Dave knowing how their friend was, Emily had reached her breaking point.

Drawn back to the present as she heard the foreign sound of Aaron Hotchner's soft laughter against her neck, she heard him say, "Unexpected, huh? That's the best you can do? I must really be out of practice. In my defense, finesse really is Dave's forte though. I'm a little more direct."

Feeling his hand sliding soothingly up and down her back as he rolled them in the bed, Emily fought the small shudder making it's way up her spine. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say, Hotch," Emily mumbled uncertainly, pillowing her head against his shoulder. She couldn't quite bring herself to raise her head to meet his eyes. At least, not yet. First, she had to gain some control. Somehow, she needed to find a way to distance herself from the current situation. Then, and only then, would she be able to logically analyze what had happened. The man below her, however, was determined to make that effort decidedly difficult…his fingers trailing idly up and down the expanse of her back made it impossible for her to form coherent thought. "Is this really even real?" she asked quietly, more to herself than to him.

"It certainly feels real to me," Hotch stated quietly, sliding his hand to mold against the curve of her ass.

"I don't understand, Hotch," Emily said, feeling her cheek scrape against the wiry hair on his chest as she shook her head.

"Emily," Hotch murmured, his tone amused, "we're lying in bed wrapped in each other. I think you can call me Aaron, don't you?"

Okay, this distance thing was gonna be hard when he insisted on talking like THAT. Nervously chewing the tip of one finger, Emily took a deep breath. "I didn't come here for this, Aaron," she said shakily, his name feeling almost alien on her lips.

"I know that," he replied softly, gather her long silky hair in one hand and letting it slide through his fingers. "Why did you come here?"

"I was worried; no one had heard from you in over a week…not even Rossi," Emily answered, her words sounding stilted to her own ears. She needed her confidence now. Where the hell had it taken its hiatus to?

"I needed some time, Emily. Foyet all but consumed me, you know that," Hotch said honestly. "Finding him…taking him down…I thought that man would take my soul. I almost lost myself on the hunt for him."

"You had a good reason, Hot…I mean, Aaron. He tried to take your son away from you. We all understood," Emily said, trying not to let her heart melt at the small, lost tone of his voice.

"I know you did," Aaron whispered, still toying with her hair. "When I saw you at my door tonight, I just wanted to feel something again," he confided. "I've felt for so long that I've only been existing. I wanted to live."

Finally lifting her head to meet his dark piercing gaze, Emily licked her lips. "And how do you feel now?"

Lifting his lips in that adorable half-smile that she hadn't even realized that she'd missed so much until this moment, he replied, "Alive, Emily. I feel alive."

**FIN**


End file.
